For Albion
by you-should-see-me-in-a-crown
Summary: Merthur Arthur waking up in modern day. Major character death.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin sighed as he tossed and turned in his bed. He had waited for Arthur for several centuries and he was tired. He had witnessed such a change over them and he hadn't aged one day since Arthur died, at least not physically. His heart felt heavy from the loss still. He couldn't really sleep any more so he decided to wait for Arthur to wake up from his sleep at the bottom of the lake.

When it was clear that sleep would elude him he got up and went to the door of his flat. He pulled on jeans and a hoodie and walked to the door. He stayed close to the lake where he had held Arthur in his arms as he had slipped into death. There was something about tonight, a feeling in the air, that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Merlin was walking by the lake. He stared out to what they used to call the Isle of the Blessed though it had long since lost that name. Merlin took off his shoes and socks and waded out for a little bit. He felt closer to Arthur when he was here. He wasn't sure why, his friend was logically going to be bones by now but maybe the magic was still strong.

Arthur woke his eyes all of a sudden and one thought occupied his mind, _Merlin. _Where was Merlin? Merlin should be there, Merlin was always there. And, thinking about it, why was he looking up at a surface, and why were his lungs struggling for air. Underwater. He was underwater. Arthur kicked his legs until his head broke the surface.

He saw a small figure ankle deep in water, the figure looked so familiar and so small and lonely. Arthur started swimming towards the figure. Merlin, it had to be Merlin. Who else could it be? And what was he wearing? The surge of emotions almost drowned him when he saw his loyal idiot standing there.

Merlin looked up as he heard a distant splashing sound. Something was coming towards him, and fast. For a moment he panicked and then the truth dawned, "Arthur." It was a whisper to himself and after a moment he started running towards the splashing. "Arthur!" It was a shout this time. Merlin ran clumsily towards the shape moving towards him.

Arthur lost consciousness just as he reached his old friend. "Merlin," he said just slipping under the water.

Merlin grabbed the sinking king from the embrace of the water. When they were back in the shallows he cradled him in his lap until he regained consciousness. "Arthur!" He then realised how awkward it would be, the love that he had felt for Arthur hadn't gone anywhere and there was no way that Arthur loved him the same way that Merlin loved Arthur.

Arthur looked up at his old friend who he hadn't seen in a long time. "Merlin? What on earth are you wearing?"


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur's intense exhaustion was probably the only thing stopping him from staring, wide eyed, at the buildings. Luckily there weren't any cars about. Merlin half carried him to the flat where he was staying with a comatose Arthur falling asleep on his shoulder. Merlin held Arthur close to him as he took the stairs, he figured that the lift would freak Arthur so much that even the fatigue of coming back from the dead wouldn't stop it. Dragging Arthur up the stairs was no easy task, especially as he was still in full armour. Somehow Merlin made it up to his flat.

"Merlin?" Arthur whispered.

"Yeah?" Merlin replied.

"I'm tired."

"Yeah, I know. There's a bed over there for you but let's get you out of this armour first."

Arthur nodded and Merlin went through the routine of removing Arthur's armour. His fingers were clumsy at first but they quickly picked up their old level of competence, or incompetence, as Arthur would say. There was always an extra bed in the flat in case Arthur turned up, Merlin was glad to know that it wasn't in vain. He had wondered, occasionally, whether it was pointless.

After Merlin had put Arthur to bed he went to his own, wondering what surprises the morning would bring for the comatose Arthur and himself.

When Arthur woke up he wondered where he was for a moment. Where was his four poster bed and the familiar sounds of Camelot? And then he remembered it all: The battle, Mordred, Morgana, Merlin and... dying. Arthur couldn't describe what it was like to die if anyone asked him. He couldn't even remember being dead, it just seemed like a long night's sleep where he knew he had dreamt but the dreams continued to elude him.

Merlin came through into Arthur's room, wondering how he was going to explain the changes since Arthur had died. He came through to see Arthur staring out the window, head following the travelling of the cars far below.

"Merlin, what manner of creatures are those things?" Arthur asked as soon as he heard Merlin.

Merlin sighed. And so it had begun. "Those aren't creatures, Arthur. They're like, carriages."

"Carriages?"

"Yes, Arthur. Alot of things have changed since you..."

"Since I died. It's okay Merlin. You can say it." Arthur smiled. He had accepted it a while ago.

Merlin changed the subject, "What do you want for breakfast. Toast?" Merlin figured that he might as well dive in with introducing the modern world to Arthur. "It's like bread."

Before Arthur had the chance to say anything Merlin walked over to the toaster and put in the bread. Arthur turned his attention to what Merlin was doing. He watched wearily as Merlin put it on, as the toast popped up he jumped. "Merlin, beware! It could attack at any moment!"

Merlin laughed. "It's fine, Arthur." After they had eaten, (another palava, explaining to Arthur what everything was) Merlin turned his attention to Arthur's attire. "Arthur, you can't go around wearing that."

"I hardly think that you're one to talk. What manner of clothes are those? I hope that's not how people go around these days..."

Merlin looked down at his pyjama bottoms. "No, Arthur, these are pyjamas. I sleep in these. I've got some clothes for you around here somewhere. Just let me get washed and dressed first. Don't go anywhere."

There were lots of confusing sounds, the sound of the shower running confused Arthur infinitely. He was prepared to accept that the world had changed since he died but surely not this much. He went back into his room and stayed motionless sat on his bed. He was afraid to touch anything. While Merlin was elsewhere it gave him the opportunity to think about how he felt about all this. When it came to Merlin it was... complicated. He had been becoming aware of how he felt towards the end of his life but he knew it could never come to anything. Maybe if the world had changed so much he was able to be with Merlin. He wasn't a king anymore and Merlin wasn't a servant.

Merlin took a quick shower and pulled on the same jeans and hoodie that he had on when he went out to find Arthur. He found Arthur in his room. "Arthur?"

"Merlin. There is no way I am wearing anything like that." Merlin was carrying another pair of jeans and a hoodie as well as underwear and a t-shirt that he thought would fit Arthur.

"Come on, Arthur, it's what everyone wears nowadays."

"I'm fine like this."

"No you're not!"

"No-one in their right minds would wear anything like that."

"Arthur. It's just a hoodie."

"So? I'm just not wearing it."

"Yes you are."

"Make me." Arthur glowered at Merlin like a sulky child.

Merlin eventually managed to get Arthur dressed, he had even managed to get Arthur into the hoodie after alot of trouble and effort and resistance (on Arthur's part).

"Merlin?" Arthur asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, Arthur?"

"It's so different isn't it? I don't like it. Why couldn't it have stayed the same?"

Merlin sighed. He had grown used to all the changes he guessed. "I don't know, Arthur. We just have to accept it and move on I suppose."

Arthur had never felt so alone as it all hit him. Everyone he knew and loved was dead. He would never see them again, the only person he had left in this strange world was Merlin.


	3. Chapter 3

"Merlin?"

"Yes, Arthur?"

"Why didn't it end? Why am I here? Why didn't I stay dead?"

"Kilgarrah said that you would arise when Albion's need was greatest."

"So I'm here... For Albion?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Merlin and Arthur were sitting back to back and talking. Arthur hadn't left the flat yet and, apart from a grocery run, neither had Merlin. They hadn't done much really over the past few days, just talked.

Arthur thought about Merlin and what he must have seen. He'd watched Gaius, Gwen and all the knights die one by one. Arthur wondered how Merlin could bear it, how could he keep living?

After a while Merlin had given up making friends. The problem with being immortal was watching them grow old and die while he couldn't. He envied them, they no longer had to deal with the real world. Merlin had thought about committing suicide at various points over the years but he abstained, for Arthur's sake. What if Arthur woke up and Merlin wasn't there? And then again, Merlin wasn't really sure whether he could die. He guessed he probably could now that Arthur was here but he didn't particularly want to find out.

"Arthur?"

"Yes, Merlin?"

"Shall we go out today?"

There was a long silence then eventually Arthur spoke. "Okay, Merlin."

Merlin stood up and helped Arthur up too. Merlin walked over to the door and watched Arthur carefully. It had taken this long to get Arthur used to the items around the flat and Merlin wasn't entirely certain how he'd react to the outside world. He placed his hand on the door handle and breathed deeply.

Arthur took a deep breath at the same time as Merlin and smiled at him, a sudden fondness welling up. "What are we, scared of a door? Come on. For Albion!" Arthur joked, realising that maybe the outside world wouldn't be as easy as he thought.

Merlin laughed and then he repeated Arthur's cry "For Albion!" before he opened the door. Arthur and Merlin walked out into the corridor and Merlin locked the door behind him.

Arthur looked down the corridor that seemed so alien to him. The shapes and materials that hadn't existed for him before. The electric lights he recognised as he had seen them in Merlin's flat. He swallowed. _I can do this,_ he thought to himself.

Merlin walked to the lift and turned to Arthur, "Do you want to take the lift? You need to get used to it sooner or later."

Arthur nodded before remembering who he was, he was Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot. _But Camelot doesn't exist anymore, _ said the voice in the back of Arthur's mind. Arthur walked to Merlin. Merlin pressed a button that lit up when he pressed it and Arthur wondered if it was more sorcery.

"Electricity again, Arthur," Merlin said to Arthur as though he was reading his mind. This was ridiculous; no-one could read minds. "

"I know, Dollop Head."

"Sorry, I just thought I'd say, Clotpole."

Merlin grinned at Arthur and just for a moment it was just like old times. The lift arrived and the doors opened, causing Arthur to jump. "Come on, Arthur," Merlin said, stepping inside. Arthur followed warily. As it started to move Arthur clenched his muscles and grabbed for the nearest thing to hold onto. That happened to be Merlin's hand.

Merlin started as Arthur grabbed onto his hand. He looked at him and saw how stiff and tense he was holding himself. Merlin held onto Arthur to let him know that he was still there.

Arthur didn't complain. He liked knowing that Merlin was there. Merlin was, everything to him. He had thought he loved Gwen but they were more like two children playing at love. With Merlin it was... different and Arthur didn't know exactly how to describe it.

"Come on Arthur," Merlin led Arthur out of the lift as it stopped at the bottom and the doors opened.

They walked out of the building and Arthur looked around as though he had never seen before, which, in a way he hadn't. It was so different that for Arthur nothing was the same. It was almost a different planet and he felt like a child again; exploring the world for the first time.

Merlin turned to Arthur, "So what do you want to do?" When Arthur didn't reply Merlin just took his hand and led him through the streets. They got fish and chips at one point, they got strange looks as they walked through the streets. Arthur kept on looking around in awe and Merlin had to show him how to use the pelican crossing.

"You two make a lovely couple," the woman at the chippie had told them.

"We're not-" Merlin had started before she interrupted them. They laughed as they walked and talked. Arthur started to relax for the first time since they arrived and they wondered around, munching on the chips as they walked, they'd already finished the fish. Merlin wiped his slightly greasy hands on his trousers and tossed the white card in a bin.

"We've got so much to do and that we can do, Arthur," Merlin began excitedly. "There's so much you haven't seen. I should take you to some museums, you would not believe it but some of our stuff wound up there and there are so many paintings and portraits and stories about us. Apart from they made me an old man in loads," Merlin frowned at the absurdity of the notion. "Arthur?" he added when he noticed that Arthur wasn't entirely there.

"How about another day, Merlin?" Arthur gave Merlin a small smile, the day had exhausted him and it wasn't even that late. Arthur took Merlin's hand and pulled him over to a bench by the lake that Arthur had come out of.

"Umm... Okay," Merlin said. He looked at Arthur and Arthur looked at him. They smiled at each other slightly and with some kind of mutual assent they leaned in and kissed gently. They sat there for about half an hour just talking about the world, how it was and how it used to be. They talked about Gwen and Hunith, Gaius and Leon. They talked about all their friends that were long since bones and then dust.

It was funny, Arthur thought. They said that the one thing that could never be healed was death. But death was the only thing that could heal everything, all the aches and pains, the shard of Mordred's sword that had pierced him. Death had healed all these things and yet people still feared it. He stood up and offered Merlin a hand up.

Merlin smiled at Arthur and accepted the hand and he still kept hold of it as they wandered back to the flat.


	4. Chapter 4

"Bother," Merlin said as he wheeled around to face the other side of the road.

"What's happened?" Arthur asked, quickly.

"Nothing, my glove fell out of my pocket, I'll just go get it."

"I'll wait here, I still think those carriages move too fast for my liking."

"Cars, Arthur. They're called cars."

"You can't escape me to remember the names for all these things. I mean come on, between toalsters and relmdios."

"You mean toasters and radios."

"Those things."

Merlin rolled his eyes. He looked right and left quickly before walking into the middle of the road and picking up the glove. He straightened up and found himself facing a bus that was travelling very very fast.

Arthur watched as the massive carriage came hurtling towards Merlin. His mouth went dry, he wanted to call out, to tell Merlin but he couldn't. He was frozen, like a deer in the headlamps, no, like Merlin in the path of an oncoming bus.

Merlin's body refused to obey his commands to move and sheer terror rooted him to the spot. He barely even saw it before it slammed into him but it seemed to take forever. He saw it all, he saw Arthur's hair blowing in the wind, he heard the cyclist brake hard, he saw the pedestrian's shoes as she wheeled around. It was as though the world split in two, in one half nothing took any time, in the other, it took all the time in the world and Merlin was trapped somewhere in the middle.

There was a harsh squeal, a thud. A lifeless Merlin in the road. Arthur let out a single scream, wordless. He ran to his manservant, his friend, the only person he had ever really loved that way. With Gwen it was only really a friendship that they had mistaken for love. He pushed through the people to get to Merlin. There was too much blood; there shouldn't be this much. He was pushed aside by people in strange clothes with strange machines and strange hands, strange lights and strange carriages. No one looked at Arthur after that. He'd found his way into a strange building that was smelt strange and was too busy and loud. The strange machines and what they called medicine yet it looked nothing like Gaius' concoctions. The thing that was like a sleeping draught was hard and round and solid.

They had rushed Merlin away, the strange people in strange clothes. Arthur had been shoved around and no one told him where to go. When they found him they'd been kind. They'd put their strange hands on Arthur's shoulder, spoken sadly, as though they cared.

He wanted to say "_No. No, you're not sad. You didn't know Merlin. Merlin was the worst servant I ever had and I want him back. No, no there isn't nothing you can do because I'll never hear Merlin laugh again. No, don't give me this paper, it's not a replacement for chasing after Merlin in a castle. No, he doesn't, didn't, have any family, they all died over a thousand years ago. So go, because you can't bring Merlin back." _Merlin got buried, neighbours came to the funeral. Arthur had sat at the back and no one had noticed him because, as they said, they'd only seen him around those past few days, what business did he have to be sad for Merlin? It wasn't even as though they could have been proper friends after all.

After the funeral, he'd worn one of Merlin's suits. Merlin had several sets of clothes too big for him in case Arthur turned up, typical Merlin. Arthur hadn't cried. He couldn't cry. Arthur slept in Merlin's bed and ate toalst made in Merlin's toalster. _Mer_lin. He'd never see _Mer_lin's goofy grin again. He still remembered the salty taste of Merlin's lips.

At some point he'd seen something on what they called a teltevision. The strange people who lived in it had said something about a third world war. Arthur hadn't heard anything about the first two, Merlin hadn't been able to tell him enough about the world before the bus. That infernal carriage, more like a monster. Some distant relative of Kilgarrah, maybe. Merlin had told Arthur about the magic. Merlin had lost it as he watched all his kin die out.

Mer_lin didn't need magic in the conventional sense of the word, he had a magic that drew people to him. _Arthur added this to the private eulogy for Merlin in his head. The ongoing funeral.

A week later Arthur signed up. They'd need whoever they could get in this stupid war and Arthur had nothing left to lose; Merlin was the only thing he had had left and Merlin had been taken from him.


	5. Chapter 5

The fighting was endless and mind numbing and all there was. Arthur didn't bother trying to make friends or to understand the world around him. It was just fighting.

"_The numbers of the dead keep on growing. The government predicts calling mandatory service if the figures keep on going the way it is at the moment."_

"_Reinforcements sent in to aid troops."_

"_A strict rationing system has been put into practise by the government."_

'_Times are tough for us all, right now, especially after the radiation poisoning after last week's bombing of London. We are dispatching vaccines as quickly as we can at the moment but numbers are limited and the radiation sickness is proving to be deadly."_

"_We are calling for able bodied men and women to come and join the war effort." _

"_Keep bombers in the dark, turn of your lights."_

"_Curfew instated for 9 o'clock. Heavy fines are instated for those found breaking the curfew."_

"_Keep calm and carry on."_

"_We regret to inform you that the war effort goes well,"_

"_PM says to 'keep faith'."_

"_Victory for Albion!" _


	6. Chapter 6

_Obituary of Arthur Pendragon. Birth unknown. Family Unknown. Death date: 26th of December, 2022. Arthur Pendragon was a brave captain in the third world war and he died before his time. His death was a tragic loss and he was a valued comrade. He saved many lives and was a true hero. His death was a tragedy but he gave it in service for king and for country. He will not be forgotten. R.I.P. Arthur Pendragon. _

_Fin. _


End file.
